Museo Paleontologico Territoriale dell’Astigiano

The Palaeontological Museum of Asti, managed by the Parco Paleontologico Astigiano, is housed in the Palazzo del Michelerio, an ancient building erected in the mid-1500s. The exhibition, set up in the basement of the palace, includes a first path that deals with general palaeontology and territorial palaeontology, describing the geological periods between the Miocene and the Pliocene, with a review of the events of the last 25 million years.

This is followed by an exhibition of fossil skeletal remains of Asti cetaceans, both mysticetes (whales) and odontocetes (dolphins), dating back to the Pliocene epoch (between 5 and 2 million years ago) when the entire Po Valley was occupied by the sea. The former Gesù church currently houses the 'Leviathan and the Sirens' exhibition with the remains of the sperm whale from Vigliano and the siren from Montiglio, unique in the world.